Snapped

Mark Seen

Virginia Larzelere Aug 6, 2004 In 1997, 32-year-old Celeste Beard hit the jackpot. That year, the thrice-divorced Austin housekeeper married her 75-year-old millionaire employer, Steven Beard. Suddenly, Celeste had it all: a Texas mansion, plenty of money, and a stable life for her two daughters. But on October 2, 1999, Celeste's picture-perfect life came crashing down with one blast from a 20-guage shotgun. That night, an armed intruder slipped into Steven's bedroom and fired a point-blank shot directly into his chest. Steven survived the initial shot, but five months later, died from complications related to his injury. By then, however, Texas authorities had a suspect in custody--Celeste's lesbian best friend, Tracey Tarlton. The former bookstore manager eventually implicated Celeste in the plot to kill her husband. At the trial, defense attorneys alleged Tarlton was simply a jealous woman with a terrifying and deadly love interest in Celeste. Prosecutors, on the other hand, claimed the Celeste had manipulated her fiend into perpetrating the shooting in order to inherit Steven's vast fortune. To support their claim, prosecutors even called Celeste's own daughters to the stand. Both girls testified that their mother had sought a hit man to silence Tracey before her arrest. The jury found Celeste guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced her to 20 years in prison.

Mark Seen

Celeste Beard Johnson Aug 6, 2004 Virginia Larzelere was well off, even by coastal Florida's relatively high standards. Her husband Norman was a successful Daytona Beach dentist, and Virginia enjoyed a beautiful home, expensive cars, a yacht and an airplane. But the good times came to an abrupt end on March 8, 1991, when a masked gunman broke into Norman's office and killed him with a shotgun blast to the chest. In the murder investigation that ensued, police quickly discovered that the Larzelere family was anything but ordinary. It appeared that the couple financed their lavish lifestyle by funneling narcotics through Norman's dental practice, and both engaged in numerous extramarital affairs. Digging deeper, the cops also uncovered a two-million dollar life insurance policy that Virginia had taken out on her husband. Then, the Larzelere's live-in help, Steve Heidel, came forward with the exact location of the murder weapon. Heidel told police that Virginia and her son, Jason, had asked him to dispose of the weapon following the shooting. On May 5, 1991, both Virginia and Jason were charged with first-degree murder in the death of Norman Larzelere. At her trial, prosecutors described Virginia as an opportunist looking to cash in on her husband's hefty life insurance policy. The defense, however, argued that Steve Heidel was the actual mastermind behind the murder. In the end, the jury sided with prosecutors and sentenced Virginia to death. In a separate trial seven months later, Jason Larzelere was acquitted on all charges.

Mark Seen

Clara Harris Aug 13, 2004 Few smiles were brighter than those of Clara and David Harris. Both dentists, they shared a thriving practice and a seemingly perfect marriage. But that changed in July of 2003, when Clara began to suspect her husband was having an affair with his secretary. Intent on catching them in the act, Clara hired a private detective to tail the couple around town. A few days later, the detective called Clara to tell her that he had followed David and his secretary to a hotel rendezvous - the same hotel that Clara and David had been married in. Enraged over the news, Clara grabbed her stepdaughter and drove to the hotel to confront David. When Clara saw him exit the building, she gunned her Mercedes and ran over him - several times. At her trial, Clara's attorneys said she had been pushed to the limit by her difficult-to-please husband. According to the defense, Clara had quit her practice, hired a personal trainer and undergone plastic surgery in an effort to make David happy. But the jury showed her little sympathy, especially after watching a videotape of the vehicular homicide that had been taped by, ironically, the detective Clara had hired to tail David. Convicted of 2nd degree murder, she's currently serving a 20-year sentence.

Mark Seen

Elena Kiejliches Aug 20, 2004 Russian émigré Elena Kiejliches was living the American dream. At 36, she had two beautiful children, a millionaire husband, and a sprawling mansion in Staten Island's upscale Toldt Hill neighborhood. But Elena's fairytale life came crashing down in March of 2000, when her husband, Borys, went missing. A month later, Borys turned back up - dead and dismembered in a cardboard barrel found floating in a marsh in Queens. Police first suspected the Russian mob in Borys' death. But the focus of their investigation soon shifted to Elena after they learned she had been having an affair with a man named Messiah Justice, an aspiring rapper and con artist. Following an interrogation with Justice, police charged the Russian housewife with murder. At trial, Justice testified that he had helped Elena dispose of Borys' body, but that the Russian housewife had pulled the trigger herself. The prosecution contended that Elena had shot Borys after he had threatened to divorce her and leave her destitute. The defense, however, painted Justice as an opportunist looking to cut a deal with the DA. The jury found Elena guilty of second-degree murder. She was sentenced to 22 years to life in prison.